More to You Than I Thought
by SpookyPancakes
Summary: Lori is left home to babysit Luan after a bunch of pranks gone wrong. During their time together, Lori realizes that there might be more to Luan's personality than her goofiness... One-shot. K-rated fluff for the most part, but gets a little emotional.


**Hello folks. I've come here to bring another Luan/Lori one-shot. As I said before they don't get enough interactions in the show, which is a darn shame because the pairing is tooth-rottingly cute. While they may be complete opposites, that's what makes the pairing so adorable. I bet Luan loves spending (or at least desperately wants to) time with Lori and shows never-ending affection to her off screen, even if the latter finds her annoying. *sigh* If only they had more Canon one-on-one interaction.**

* * *

 **Lori's POV**

It was around 1:00 PM. I was sitting on my bed preparing to bring my babysitter authority into use since all but one of my siblings are going to the store with my parents. The sibling in particular who I have to babysit is Luan, the mischievous little prankster who can't seem to keep her pranks to herself. Last week while she was home alone, she set many horrible pranks in our rooms that crossed the line. Granted, they weren't as bad as the ones she pulled on April Fool's Day, but still pretty mean. So as a result she isn't trusted to be left home alone until further notice. She's a nice girl at heart, she just needs some realism pumped into her is all, as she thinks life is all fun and games, and laughs and giggles. She's as enthusiastic as a kid in a candy store.

"Lori, make sure Luan is on her best behavior and doesn't pull any fatal pranks while we're gone." I heard my mom shout from across my room.

"Okay Mom!"

"Great. Bye Lori and Luan! Love you!" She then closed the door, leaving just the two of us at home.

Meanwhile, Luan was sitting on the floor in her room, playing with her Mr. Coconuts dummy, and a gender-swapped version of it named "Mrs. Coconuts". Luan was covered in blue smiley face stamps for some reason. Suddenly, I opened the door to exhibit my authority to her.

"Luan L. Loud! Stop what you're doing right now and pay attention to me!" Luan was startled and shifted her attention to me. She knew this could only mean one thing.

"Yes Ms. Lori!" Luan addressed me by an authoritative name to show her respect for me.

"The rest of the kids have gone off with Mom and Dad to go to the grocery store so it's just you and me! Listen up twerp! Mom and Dad gave me a list of things to do to enforce your goodness, so you better follow them." I'm glad that they made such a list; I'm tired of Luan's over-the-top routine and I want her to try something new for a change. "1.) No joke-telling until the priorities have been dealt with."

Luan grew a worried expression on her face and started grinding her teeth in nervousness, while also placing both her hands on her face to express shock. "Um, okay... I guess I can wait..." I continued to reveal the rules of the list.

"2.) Likewise, no clowning around until said priorities are done. 3.) If you're going to pull a prank during your free time, for the love of all that is good, **do not pull a fatal one that'll affect our current state of being.** 4.) Most importantly, **LISTEN TO BIG SISTER LORI AT ALL COSTS! DO YOU HEAR ME LUAN?!** "

"Yes Ms. Lori!"

"Louder!" I wanted to enforce Luan's trustworthiness by making her conform to the loud repetition method.

"YES MS. LORI!" Luan answered louder and with great respect for my authority.

" **LOUDER!** "

" **YES MS. LORI!** "

"Good, now let's go down to the basement. Mom and Dad want you to become fit." On a trivial note, I couldn't help but inquire about the smiley faces that Luan was covered in. "Uhh, why are you covered in smiley faces?"

"Those are from the new smiley face stamp that I bought. Want one?"

"Luan, this isn't the time for funny business. Now go to the bathroom and wash yourself off." I directed her to the bathroom.

"Yes Lori."

* * *

 **After she got out**

"Good, now let's go do that exercise."

"Oh dear." Luan said in fear. Worried that Luan might have broken her promise about obeying me, I encouraged her.

"Hey look at it this way, you'll be becoming healthy afterwards." When we got down to the basement, I placed a yoga mat on the floor and prompted Luan to get on it and do her exercise. "Alright, we're starting with a push-up session. I've set the timer for one minute to see how far you can go. If you dare even think about screwing up, I'll only extend the time of your workout and tell Mom and Dad about your misbehavior. Are we ready?"

"I-I guess s-so." Luan was uncertain and shivering, scared of my authority. I then sat down in a chair and drank a bottle of water as I started the timer.

"Ready, set, GO!"

Luan began the push-up session and exhibited strength at first, but gave up after her fifth one.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5..." Luan became exhausted by the pressure and asked for a break. "Can I stop now? I think I've done enough."

"No you may not stop now; we've got about 40 more seconds left. Continue right now or you'll turn into a human pretzel at the hands of me!"

That scenario only pressured Luan even more, but she continued nevertheless. "6, 7, 8, 9. T-t-TENNNN!" Luan's speech became elongated due to the overexertion, but she wanted to show her strength and give it a boost, so she carried on after that. "11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, TWENTY!"

* * *

 **About 39 seconds later**

"48, 49, FIFTY! There Lori, I did 50 push-ups. Am I free to go now?" The timer then went off.

"Well Luan, uh, I'm very proud of you, but no; we're not done yet. We still have a trial of 100 jumping jacks to do."

"100?! You're crazy!"

"HEY! Don't you _dare_ take the name of your eldest sister in vain! Now do it or else..." I threatened.

"Yes Lori!"

"No 'yes Lori!' DO IT NOW!"

Luan was rather annoyed by my authority as she went through many excruciatingly tough workouts, but still respected it nonetheless. She began the jumping jacks session.

"Luan that's not jumping jacks!" I lied, just to get her to do it at an even faster rate.

"Yes it is I'm ju-"

"Ah, don't argue with me; just do it the right way." Luan nodded her head in guilt and did jumping jacks at an even faster rate.

* * *

 **After the workout session was done**

"Ah, that exercise sure built your strength didn't it Luan?" Luan was exhausted and visibly sweating, presumably feeling dehydrated.

"Lori, I'm so sweaty...need water."

"Well that's understandable. I'm giving you the courtesy of cooling yourself down in the bathroom."

Luan was breathing heavily while drenched in sweat. "Th-thanks...Lori." She then ran off to the bathroom and splashed water onto herself using the sink, thereby feeling refreshed. She thought to herself, "Man, that Lori can be such a meanie at times. You know, she said not to pull any pranks, but what about pranks without any evidence? Hmm, I got it! In retaliation for that excruciating workout, I will use Lori's toothbrush but then wash it off to hide all evidence, though I'll probably bring this up to her when today becomes history." Luan then proceeded with the prank, unbeknownst to Lori, and washed her toothbrush off 100% to hide the evidence. She lightly giggled to herself, feeling rebellious.

"Hey Lori, I'm back! What's on the activities list now?"

"Well, luckily for you, we don't have anymore priorities at the moment; it's now time for a lunch break." This notably joyed Luan.

"Oh goody! I can't wait to see what you're making me!" I really hope Luan wasn't anticipating junk food, because I'm making her something organic.

"You'll see. But for now, I'm giving you the opportunity to watch TV or play in your room as I cook you your lunch. I'll call your name when it's prepared."

"Right-o Lori!" Luan then grabbed Mr. and Mrs. Coconuts from her room and sat down on the couch to watch the circus channel.

* * *

 **15 minutes later**

"Luan, lunch is ready!"

Luan got overly enthusiastic and curious as a monkey and ran to the kitchen. "Oh gee golly whiz! What did you make me, Lori? Smiley fries? Dinosaur nuggets?! Hot dogs?! CHEESE-STUFFED CRUST PIZZA?! :D"

"Even better: a salad! With a glass of tap water." Suddenly, Luan's joy was destroyed.

"A salad? Yuck! I wasn't hoping for one of your gross health foods." Luan was being an argumentative brat again, so I had to negotiate with her.

"Ah, that kind of attitude is a no-no, Luan. In accordance with babysitting rules, you get what your babysitter gives you and don't throw a fit. Besides, healthy food helps your brain function and gives you a much-needed energy boost."

"Can I at least ha-"

"No you may not have any flavor enhancers: that would literally defeat the purpose. Now eat up."

Luan was disgusted with her meal, but slowly poked the salad with her fork and reluctantly transported it into her mouth, swallowing it in disdain, thereafter drinking her tap water. She hoped to gosh that she wouldn't receive a nauseous reaction from this consumption.

"Good, now I think I trust you enough not to screw this situation up in my absence. We still have one more activity left to do then it's free time for the rest of the day." I then walked out of the kitchen and laid down on the living room couch, changing the TV from the circus channel to _The Dream Boat_. Luan then continued eating her salad and drinking her water, this time at a much faster and less reluctant rate, although this was likely just to get it over with. I kicked my feet up and crossed them on the coffee table, embracing freedom as my siblings wouldn't normally let me do this if they were in the room. Suddenly, Luan was done with her food.

"I finished eating that salad Lori! I ate the whole thing and best of all, I did not sneak any other foods nor did I use any flavor enhancers." I was rather impressed as I was expecting her to do something sneaky in my absence.

"Really?"

"Yup!"

"Well then, I'm very proud of you Luan. Now just one more activity we got to do and you'll have free time for the rest of the day."

"Curious to see what it is.."

I then walked Luan into my room and gave her the ultimate task.

"You are to organize Leni and I's closet per the colors of our clothes. And don't come out until that closet is perfect." I then opened the door to reveal an incredibly messy and borderline overflowing closet.

"Yes Ms. Lori."

"Good, now get to work."

I then went back into the living room and returned to the couch. "HA! She'll never get that done. This will certainly take all of her energy; I'd love to see the look on that little twerp's face when she gives up. She'll probably be crying 'WAAH I can't take it anymore Lori!' Hahaha!"

Meanwhile, Luan was incredibly mad at Lori for these overexerting punishments, scoffing sarcastic remarks behind her back. There was a heap of clothes to be organized, it's like this closet could be a fashion store. Luan was already getting tired and wanted to snap at Lori for her abuse of authority. Unhesitant, she walked out of the room and did just that.

"Lori, can I stop now? I think I've done enough..."

"HAHAHAHAHA no. I bet you haven't even started yet."

That was a lie, as Luan - while not halfway finished - did try nevertheless, and tallying this with the 30-minute workout, it's understandable that she'd want to take a break.

"Well gee Lori, I wonder why that could be. Take a guess?... No? Okay. IT'S BECAUSE I'M FED UP WITH YOUR PRESSURE AND ABUSE OF AUTHORITY! You keep accusing me of not doing things when it's clear I'm doing them or at least TRYING my best, and you give unprofessional encouragement, as you threaten to turn your siblings into "human pretzels", whatever the heck that means. But seriously, I'm done with you! Why don't you organize the closet for yourself?! You're just a big meanie and a diabolical babysitter. I hate you Lori!" Luan gave a long and critical speech to me protesting my authority. Her face was notably red and tears started to stream down her face. "And give me back my puppets!" Luan added on a side note, grabbing her puppets Mr. and Mrs. Coconuts which she accidentally left in the living room; I was examining them. Luan then ran off to her room and angrily slammed her door.

"Hey Luan you're a bratty little crybaby you know that? XD" I shouted across the room to make her come to a realization, feeling no sympathy for her hurt feelings. "Lol, I succeeded in hurting Little Miss Comedy. I am _sooo_ terrible, but I don't care. HA!"

Meanwhile, Luan was crying on her bed, hugging Mr. Coconuts to feel like someone felt sorry for her loss, even though he's just a puppet.

"Oh gee it's a long story, Mr. Coconuts. My sister Lori is abusing her power as a babysitter and putting too much pressure on me."

Back to me, I continued sitting on the couch and watching TV. She'll be fine. I shouldn't have to apologize for doing my job. Until...I stopped and thought...Luan's speech just hit me. Oh dear goodness, what have I done? I took my sister's energy and well-being for granted out of sadism. I was such a monster! I _must_ make it up to her. Suddenly, Luan's crying stopped. Um, she must be plotting revenge on me... Oh dear. Well, I'm willing to accept. I brought this onto myself, so I should accept it. But anyways, in the likely event Luan _won't_ try to retaliate, I must admit my mistake and do something to cheer her up... Oh, but after all I've done, she's probably never gonna wanna be in my presence again. What do I do?! Please someone get me out of this quandry! Well, I think it's time to let Luan recover and give her some privacy; it would probably be disrespectful of me to walk in on her after what she's experienced.

In the meantime however, I think I'm willing to organize the closet so she doesn't have to. She'll thank me later.

And so I walked into my room and did just that. By the way, I have a surprise for Luan that I've been meaning to give her for a while. I bet she'll love it! :)

All of a sudden, Luan walked into my room and seemed to feel guilty.

"Lori, I'd really like to apologize for the hateful backlash I gave you earlier. It was really disrespectful of me to speak like that to someone of high authority. I promise not to do something rude like that again and I hope things can get better..." Luan felt sympathetic for what she did, but to be honest, she didn't need to. I'm the one responsible for this terrible incident, so I should feel sorry, not her.

"Aww Luan, that's okay, but you don't need to apologize; I should. You were right about how I abuse my authority out of personal gain, and it was really disrespectful of me to do so. I just wanted to make sure you learned your lesson about going too far with pranks and that you behave like a good kid. But yeah I went overboard with my authority and I'm really sorry for that. I promise never to do it again. As a reward, I'm organizing the closet so you don't have to, and I'll tell Mom and Dad that everything went just fine." Luan's frown then turned upside down and exposed her beautiful smile in response to the reconcile.

"Aw Lori, that's so unbelievably sweet of you. Thanks for having my back. Of course I forgive you! I could never turn down an apology from my big sis! :)" Luan squeezed me into a tight hug which I reciprocated.

"Consider us fair and square!" I responded, ultimately reconciling with Luan.

"P.S. Lori, you may not like this but I used your toothbrush when I was in the bathroom earlier today without your permission. I really wanted to find a loophole around the no pranks rule, so uh, I did that... BUT, no need to worry, I washed it off 100% afterwards, so we is cool!"

"Hehehe, well I admittedly deserved that." I responded to Luan to further exhibit my selflessness. "Now go on, you have plenty of free time on your hands! :)" Luan jollily skipped to her room and giggled, while I continued to organize the closet. "Aw, hehehe, Luan is such a sweetheart!" I giggled, showing affection to her silliness.

* * *

 **When I was finished with the closet**

Luan came in to give me the "surprise" she'd been telling me about. She was hiding it behind her back.

"Lori! I've got the surprise you've been waiting for! Close your eyes. 1, 2, 3!" Luan then proceeded with the reveal. The surprise turned out to be a pink, heart-shaped friendship necklace with a picture of Luan and I engraved into the heart's space. "It's a friendship necklace! I made it for you in 7th grade but had been forgetting to give it to you until now."

I was overwhelmed and slightly blushing over how much my little sister cared for me. The picture engraved in the necklace depicted both of us smiling, and this is back when both of us had braces. We look so dorky, it's so cute!

"Aww, Luan, I love it! I noticed it's from when both of us wore braces. That makes it doubly cute! That was incredibly thoughtful of you to make a special gift for your big sister. In reward, I also have a gift that I've been meaning to give you on a special occasion and today is that day!" Luan got giddy over this prospect.

"Oh goody goody gum drops! I can't wait to see what it is Lori!"

"Hehe, close your eyes you curious little monkey." And Luan did just that.

I then got the gift out from under my bed where I've been keeping it. "1, 2, 3, OPEN YOUR EYES! :D"

Luan opened her eyes and gasped in excitement. "What is it, Lori?"

"It's a drawing I made of you and me playing outside together. I worked extremely hard to make it look realistic, and I hope you're happy with how it turned out." Luan looked at the drawing in awe and started to jollily tear up over its quality.

"Aww, Lori... It's... It's... _so beautiful. Just like you._ " Luan then wiped tears of joy off of her face. I was flattered with the way Luan complimented the drawing. She thought I was pretty. Awww. I got all blushy and developed a huge silly grin on my face.

"Oh stop it you!" I said in an overwhelmed, giggly tone of voice and messed with Luan's hair affectionately. Luan giggled in response.

"Thanks for the drawing Lori. I'll be sure to hide this in my room where no one can get to it."

"And thank _you_ for the friendship necklace!"

"Aw shucks, don't mention it Lori." Luan then put the picture in her room underneath her bed and came back to me afterwards.

"So Luan, uh...what do you wanna do now? Ooh, how about a prank-a-thon?! :D"

Luan, while flattered with the offer, wanted to try something new and softer. "Actually..." She then opened my closet to showcase what she wanted to do instead. "I've always wanted to try on some of your clothes and act like a girly girl for a change, so I thought why not do it now? We'll have a dress-up game! :)"

I was rather surprised by Luan's willingness to try something outside of the comedy genre. Plus, I found it absolutely adorable how Luan of all people wanted to dress up like a princess, and I love playing with my younger siblings in our free time. So...

"Well... I did just organize the closet. So I'm not sure if-... Nah! You're right; let's do it! It'll be literally worth disorganizing the closet again! :D" I was uncertain at first, but wanted to make Luan happy, so I dropped my worries.

"YAY!" Luan then ran into the closet and changed from her usual attire to a sky blue tank top, brown khaki shorts, and blue flats. She then went over to the makeup table to put on some blue eyeshadow and paint her nails and toenails a sparkly coat of pink. Yep, she was definitely impersonating me. She then put on her best valley girl accent and gave her best impression of me. "Hai there. I'm Lori Loud. I'm the prettiest girl in all of my school. I love texting mah Bobby Boo-Boo Bear on the phone 24/7. Ah what a cutie patootie he is. The eldest sibling deserves all the respect in the world." That portrayal was surprisingly accurate to me.

"Hahaha, let me try you!" I was ready to impersonate Luan. I ran into the closet and put on her clothes which were lying on the floor. "Hellooo, I'm Luan Loud. I'm Royal Woods' #1 prankster and jokester. I'm an aspiring comedian who annoys everyone. I love playing with my ventriloquist doll Mr. Coconuts and spending time with my boyfriend Benny." My impression of her wasn't meant to offend her in a serious way, but rather just in a playful kind of way. Luan blushed and got slightly embarrassed, pinning me down on the floor and engaging in a tickle fight with me. She was all giggly.

"Hahaha, stop it Lori! Benny's not my boyfriend, I just like him a lot. As a really close friend okay?" Luan then continued tickling, going at an even faster rate than usual. This felt so torturous yet amusing at the same time.

"AAAAAAAAH HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA LUAN, THAT TICKLES!" I couldn't control my laughter. I tried to resist by tickling Luan back, but couldn't since she pinned both of my hands down. Ultimately, I decided to escape by using my toes to tickle Luan since she hasn't blocked my legs, so I did just that. I placed both my feet on Luan's stomach and wiggled my toes. "TICKLE TICKLE TICKLE!" Luan was thereby outwitted by me and fell on her back, thus enforcing my escape.

"Aw Lori, ya outwitted me!"

"Yep. You can count on your big sister to beat you at anything."

"Yeah, I guess I can. Hehehe." Luan then blushed and opened the closet again to give attention to a certain dress. "Say Lori, do you mind if I put on this dress?" She was pointing to the sparkly sky blue dress I wore last homecoming. "I wanna dress like a princess."

"Hmm, well. Oh I don't know. It's a very special dress as I wore it last homecoming and it holds such a sentimental value...but...oh I don't see why not! :D" As sentimental as the dress was for me and as much as I didn't want anyone else touching it, I wouldn't mind sacrificing it for my little sister to wear.

"Hooray!" Luan then got into the closet and changed into that dress. I then got out a boombox and put in a CD consisting of beautiful princess music. Luan happily performed ballet to the tune.

"Hehehe, Luan, I'm glad you have an interest other than comedy. It's really unique."

"I'm glad too Lori. I'm glad too." Luan responded as she continued dancing to the music. I continued to watch in awe.

* * *

 **When that was done with**

We changed back into our normal clothes. The two of us then sat down on the floor and had a brief moment of silence. My turquoise eyes made contact with Luan's caramel brown ones. Suddenly, Luan had something she wanted to tell me.

"Lori, I have a confession to make..."

I was rather prepared for this, anticipating it to be something sweet.

"What is it Luan? You can tell your big sis anything."

"Well, to put it simply. You're my favorite sister in the whole world. You're tall, beautiful, heroic, and a great friend."

"Aw Luan I-"

"Do you promise not to tell anyone Lori? I want this to be a secret between you and me."

"I promise Luan. You can count on me to keep a secret." We then crossed pinkies together to reinforce that this remain a secret. Luan then grabbed a Sharpie that was sitting on my nightstand and drew my name on the palms of both her hands, underneath which she drew heart symbols. Awww...

I couldn't help but reciprocate, so in turn I drew Luan's name on the palms of both my hands and a heart symbol below. As we sat on the floor, we joined both our hands together and shared a smile as we made eye contact.

"You can sleep in my bed tonight little sis. I'll protect you from the nightmares and other scary things of the dark."

"Aw gee thanks Lori. I was hoping you'd let me do that."

I then purposely fell on her stomach. We could feel each other's hearts beating. We then pressed our noses together. "And I'll start our own private club that we'll attend when the two of us are home alone. I'll call it, the 'Comedy Sis and Mature Sis Hangout'."

"Aw that sounds like a great idea Lori!"

"And in it we'll play dress-up, give each other makeovers, tell jokes, pull pranks, play with some of your toys, watch TV, play board games, go to the park, cook, make drawings, and so much more."

"That sounds like absolute fun Lori!"

"Trust me, it will be. Very much so. Say Luan, want a piggyback ride? Anything for my goofy little sister! :)"

Luan promptly hopped onto my back, with her legs on my shoulders. "I thought you'd never ask. Let's go!" With Luan on my back, I walked into every room on the second floor.

"WHEEEEE! Haha, this is so exciting Lori!" Luan said as her adrenaline was rushing from the ride.

"It only gets more exciting." I said as we faced the stairs. Luan looked rather nervous.

"Wuh-uh, I'm not too sure about this Lori. It looks pretty dangerous in fact I think reconsidering is the best thing to right now yep I think I'll reconsid-" Luan talked at a rather fast rate and seemed to want off, but was cut off me running down the stairs with her on my back. "AAAAH WEEEEEE! Hahahahaha!"

She then got off my back as we entered the living room.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" I asked her.

"Of course it was Lori!"

"Aw I love you Luan! I don't know why I ever bullied you."

"Aw it's okay Lori. Since it's over with now, that's all that matters."

Luan you silly, stop being such a cute little sweetheart. XD

"Well, what do you want to do now?"

"Hmmm... I got it! Why don't you throw me up into the air and try your best to catch me each time!"

"That sounds like fun Luan. Let's do it!" I grabbed onto Luan and persisted to throw her up into the air, only to catch her each time.

"Yay! This is so awesome Lori!"

Suddenly, we heard the door open, and the rest of my family arrived home from the grocery store, prompting me to stop the game.

"Hey kids, we're home!" Mom shouted to Luan and I. "Hey Lori, was Luan on her best behavior and did she do all the chores she was told to?"

I'll admit, she did have some screw-ups, but I'm at fault for them, so I'll cover her back and lie. "Yes Mom, everything went a-okay!"

"Well that's good. Luan, since you had a good day alone with Lori, you are now eligible to come along to run errands with us again."

Wanting to show her meaningful affection to me, she respectfully turned down this offer.

"Ah it's okay Mom. I'd rather stay home with Lori next time; we just developed a close bond."

"Yeah, we were just in the middle of a game. I also discovered that aside from comedy, Luan loves playing dress-up and acting like a princess."

"HEY, THAT'S MY THING!" Lola yelled at me, possibly jealous of Luan.

"Aw well that's incredibly sweet. I'm glad Luan has a new hobby and that you two are spending quality time. Now we best give you some privacy. You two girls have fun!" I continued the game with Luan.

Mom, Dad, and the rest of my siblings secretly watched me play with Luan from across the stairs.

"Aw, look at them play together. They're like innocent little angels." Mom remarked.

"LUAN YOU COPYCAT!" Lola yelled from across the stairs, still jealous of Luan's new hobby, but we brushed it off and continued playing on this peaceful day.

* * *

 **A/N: Uh oh, Lola's a little jealous of Luan. Hopefully she doesn't go completely psycho off screen! XD Anyways as always I hoped you enjoyed. If not then feedback will help me. This is a pairing too cute to hate and I sure hope I inspire people to write more Luan/Lori fics.**


End file.
